Monthly Attorney Orientation
For Lawyers who are New to Indigent Defense
Beginning August 1, IDS staff will provide orientation for new attorneys on the first Friday of each month from 1-2 p.m.
Topics will include a guided tour of the IDS website, information on training and CLE opportunities, access to wellness resources and more. You will also be able to connect with other defense attorneys for future collaboration!
2026 IDS Forensic Science Education Series
IDS and the Mecklenburg Public Defender’s Office provide regular continuing education to dozens of NC criminal defense and parent attorneys, investigators, and mitigation specialists who attend the IDS Forensic Science Education Series.
In 2026, we will offer monthly 90-minute webinars on various aspects of forensic evidence. These webinars will take place typically at 12:30 pm on the first Thursday of each month. Click here to view the 2026 Schedule.
The first six sessions of 2026 will focus on understanding and advocating for neurodivergent clients.
- This event has passed.
2022 IDS Forensic Science Education Series: Challenging Facial Recognition Evidence
Live webinar presented by Clare Garvie, Training and Resource Counsel, Fourth Amendment Center at NACDL
Nov. 3, 2022, 12:30 pm
90 min of CLE credit anticipated
For the past twenty years, police across the U.S. have used face recognition as a routine investigative technique with little to no controls, oversight, or disclosure to the defense, despite being the primary, if not sole, method of identification in various cases across jurisdictions. This CLE frames face recognition as a biometric investigative technique, one that has never had its reliability or scientific validity established. It will examine the way face recognition is used in practice, which carries significant risk for misidentification or other error. Ways to challenge this use and the potential for producing exculpatory information will also be covered.
Registration:
This program is part of the 2022 IDS Forensic Science Education Series. The webinars will be presented monthly and are free to attend. Attorneys who want CLE credit for attending will be billed $3.50 per credit hour by the State Bar. Use this link to register for all webinars in the series and attend any that are of interest.
Presenter:
Clare Garvie is the Training and Resource Counsel with the Fourth Amendment Center at NACDL. Previously, she was a Senior Associate with the Center on Privacy and Technology, a think tank based at Georgetown Law. She was the lead researcher and author on several the Center’s reports on police use of face recognition. She has testified before the House Oversight Committee and state legislatures and worked with legislators on both sides of the aisle on privacy legislation. Her commentary has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. She holds a J.D. from Georgetown Law and a B.A from Barnard College in Political Science, Human Rights, and Psychology.
